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Surprisingly incoherent and boring

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Benoît Jacquot's Berlin Golden Bear contender in 2012, FAREWELL, MY QUEEN taps into a beguiling re-imagination of Marie Antoinette's (Kruger) impassioned affinity with Gabrielle de Polastron, duchess de Polignac (Ledoyen), on the eve of the French Revolution in 1789, without delving into more scandalously graphic details of their lesbian relationship, and unlike Sofia Coppola's palatially sumptuous MARIE ANTOINETTE (2006), Jacquot complies to Chantal Thomas' source novel and the film narrates entirely from the viewpoint of the Queen's young servant Sidonie Laborde (Seydoux), who often reads for her, which signifies that preponderantly viewers are invited to get a peep of the back rooms of Palace of Versailles for a change.Needless to say, the royal mise-en-scène has its sublime allure to those addicted to the period grandeur, often in passing glimpses wherever Sidonie drifts around in her fretful steps, this proves to be a cunningly economical stratagem of shifting the focus to the characters' mood swings when an impending uprising is in the pipeline. All hell broke loose therein, but not Sidonie, she remains inexorably loyal to Marie Antoinette after has been privileged with a tête-à-tête by the Queen in person, which the latter confides to her the affection she feels for Gabrielle. It makes her feel special about herself, it also thrills her sexually, to be granted such a honor which is out of her rung, she becomes the closest friend of the Queen of France, what more can a girl of her place want?Given the frenzied context, Sidonie barely has time to relish the joy, she puts her back into fishing latest information of the revolution, voluntarily running errands for the Queen, including waywardly barging into Gabrielle's boudoir and glaring her naked body with a trenchant incisiveness of jealousy and disparagement. But what does her "specialness" really mean to the Queen? When Marie Antoinette bestows her the ultimate mission, it hits her like a sledgehammer, inwardly, she might have a faintest hope that Marie Antoinette would indulge her like a forbidden fruit, in a more peaceful time, maybe, but not at that crunch, when monarchy is hanging by a thread, all she can do is to silently accept her fate as an honored decoy, the last thing she could ever do for her Queen, then for the first time in her life, she wallows in her moment of superiority, however facile and ominous it is, and the story just ends there, when she forever departs from Marie Antoinette's life, she, Sidonie Laborde, becomes a nobody.Admittedly, the film feels foreshortened, even myopic when considering such a sensational commotion is undergoing, there must be something more theatrically pressing can be projected on the screen (even Marie Antoinette's own story has many colorful facets), but in this unapologetically feminist reconstruction, Jacquot gallantly attempts to deconstruct the undertow of this particular situation (from a servant's perspective) fraught with attraction, disaffection, perturbation and self-deception, exclusively among women from different strata.Léa Seydoux gives a patchy incarnation of Sidonie, often casts her customarily inscrutable gaze masked with an air of stuck-up insouciance to the camera, but short in supply when a young maiden's ingenuousness is demanded, she seems more impenetrable than all her more worldly seniors, which considerably deflects Sidonie from being a queen-stuck virgin as she is. Diana Kruger, as her antithesis, contrives a much more rounded interpretation of the Queen, a mellow amalgam of personable femininity and fickle monarchist, an incorrigible romantic and a well- adjusted planner, that's only garnered from her fitful screen-time, and leaves us hot to trot to envision what she would be doing before her ill-fated sign-off. Perhaps a revisit of Coppola's work can quench the yearning, or otherwise.

I like it. it is not impressive, great or memorable. but it has inspired cast, nice costumes and a fragile story. and this is enough. sure, it is not a portrait. only an adaptation or, if the novel is not known, a drawing about beginning of strong storm. but it may be a real delight, or lemon tea for a fan of French court of Louis XVI. or good point for search informations about this fundamental event. sure, not accuracy is virtue of this film. but more important is its flavor. the fall of a world. the need of change. the news about events out of golden circle, the references and, sure, the way of a young woman - part of sophisticated system. that is all. a film without heroes - if ignore the performance of Michel Robin and small slices of Xavier Beauvois presence.

This film is a wonderful study of what the last days of the French royalty in Versailles, particularly of the way, Marie Antoinette behaved and delivered her commands. It is all seen through the eyes of her reader, a very interesting character. She is the queen's personal reader, someone who has been bewitched by the Queen's strong charm. There are rumours in the palace, and very few people can validate them. Whether it is from loyalty, admiration, or fear, secrets are guarded and some dubious qualities admired, maybe misunderstood. It is hard to believe Sidoine can't see the true nature of the queen. Maybe it is because she might be infatuated with her, or maybe because the way Antoinette is played by Diane Kruger, there is very little choice but to be in awe of her.Kruger is a beautiful woman, and she can play mystical characters very well. One could believe kingdoms were fighting for her Helen in "Troy", and in "Farewell", it is likely she probably wielded and manipulated her court more effectively than her husband did. There is still room in her performance to show that she still felt limited and bound by some conventions, but it was clear she was a powerful woman.Her scenes with Sidoine are full of tension, making us wonder what is going behind each woman's facade. We never really know because all we see is very controlled reactions, emotions, furtive glances, light brushes, hints at deeper and more forbidden forces.Sidoine knows how to find information, and she struggles because it might not be a good idea to know too much. It haunts you. She is in the most inner circle of the palace, and she might see and know too much, but she fails to make good use of what she knows. In fact, like Antoinette, she might be restricted by her social place and gender, and it's that inability to overstep her boundaries that might surprise people in the final scenes of the movie, as we are floored by Antoninette's request and Sidoine's reaction.The film is gorgeously produced, scored, and photographed. There is something about the way that period in French history looked like. It complements the decadence of the upper classes. We know such opulence is not cheap, and we can see in the disdain shown to the lower classes, that there will be consequences for all involved. It is an elegant and intelligent film, full of layers that are shown are effectively displayed. Much is done with the presentation of a costume, a reference to a special dish, how culture is appreciated and used as a weapon here. Antoinette knows her place, and she uses it grandly, as we can see by Kruger's performance. Power is intoxicating and binding, and it can lead to very dangerous resolutions, but this will not beat the power of the human heart, and that's the essence of this queen's maneuvers.

The French Revolution kicked off in 1789, not too long after America's ended. Fortunately for King George III, he lived in London and not Philadelphia or Boston. King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were not so lucky; their revolution sprouted on their doorstep. The four days which Farewell, My Queen covers, 14-17 July 1789, were dark days indeed for the French monarchy and their noble hangers-on. Nobody leaves Versailles because it is too dangerous, the Bastille is stormed, and there are pamphlets floating around Paris of 286 named individuals whose heads the revolutionaries wish to chop off. The number one name on that pamphlet is Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger).Unlike Sophia Coppola's 2006 version of this story, Marie is not as young as she once was. She misses her youth but appears to have found company with the Duchess Gabrielle de Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen). Scandalous rumors circulate not only throughout the palace of the extent of their liaisons, but also through the rest of France. Many believe the Duchess is just as responsible for the people's miserable state of affairs as are the King and Queen. In fact, her name is number three on the guillotine wishlist. However, both of these ladies are merely supporting characters in Benoit Jacqot's version; their story is told through the eyes and ears of the queen's loyal reader, Sidonie Laborde (Lea Seydoux). Sidonie is at the queen's beck and call whenever she feels in the mood for a play or a novel to be read to her. She does not have a more devoted subject; Sidonie absolutely worships the queen is all she does or could do. The queen recognizes the true adoration in Sidonie's eyes and so employs her as a sort of sounding board and confidant; not to the extent of Duchess de Polignac's level of intimacy, but nonetheless, Sidonie is one of the closest servants to the queen. The other palace servants take note of this and Sidonie appears to be among the more higher-ranking servants. Even downstairs in the servant's quarters there is a caste system of hierarchy and rank. Because Sidonie is extremely well read and discreet on top of it, she is quite the capable spy who can ferret out closely held information when events start to pick up the pace outside the palace walls. Sidonie knows which servants to press for info, whose palms need greasing, and in which particular dark corner of the room to stand to eavesdrop on conversations to acquire the most up to date gossip on how the queen is feeling, who woke the King up in the middle of the night, and how close the revolutionaries are getting to the outside walls.Unfortunately, what sounds like deep palace intrigue and an interesting history lesson in the French Revolution mostly lands with a thud on screen. Marie Antoinette is seen a few times and the Duchess hardly at all. A movie which spends a lot of time discussing the truth and falsehoods of their relationship only puts them in the same room together once. Sidonie holds your interest as she scurries back and forth trying to please the queen but her limited view of the action also limits the audience's view. As the situation becomes more pressing and hectic, the camera almost latches on to the back of Sidonie's neck as she runs down the long, slick hallways of Versailles. Towards the end, the camera work was becoming a bit distracting. One should not notice the camera's movements too much but after another jerky movement to the right and back left or another awkward close-up, I wished they would just place the camera on a tripod and let it be. What the cinematographer may have thought was innovative and eye- catching was more irritating and a case of needless showboating.The art and costume directors must have had a field day though. Any film set in 1789 Versailles probably has these types of creative personnel lined up down the block raising their hands to get a shot at it. While Farewell, My Queen works on an aesthetic level to produce a great looking period piece (minus the camera), this film is only for the Francophile. Those who relish any story of Marie Antoinette will probably love this movie no matter what. There is a lot of name dropping and whoever remembers their pre-Napoleon French history class from college may smile and nod as name after name is casually mentioned in conversation. For those who are a bit more discerning in their historical fiction though, you will not take very much away from this film you do not already know. Go enjoy some French wine instead or pick up a copy of A Tale of Two Cities to quench your French Revolution itch.